Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAODICEA

(Gk. Laodíkeia)

A city in Asia Minor, one of the seven churches addressed in Rev. 1–3. Laodicea ad Lycum was founded ca. 250 b.c. by the Syrian king Antiochus II, who named it after his wife Laodice. It stood on an elevated plateau in the Lychus River valley and was located ca. 10 km. (6 mi.) S of Hierapolis, 18 km. (11 mi.) W of Colossae, and 161 km. (100 mi.) E of Ephesus. Major roads made Laodicea a thoroughfare.

In the 1st century b.c. Laodicea became a banking and finance and textile center, as well as a famous site for gladiatorial games. In a.d. 60 it was devastated by an earthquake, but the wealthy inhabitants refused imperial financial assistance for rebuilding (Tacitus Ann. 14.27). Excavations have uncovered a stadium, gymnasium, two theaters, several churches, and a water system. Today the site is uninhabited.

The church at Laodicea, led by a woman named Nympha (Col. 4:15), probably began during Paul’s lengthy Ephesian ministry (Acts 19:10) when his colleague, Epaphras, evangelized the city (Col. 4:13). Paul encourages the churches at Laodicea and Colossae to exchange the letters he had written them (Col. 4:16); the “letter to the Laodiceans” is no longer extant.

John’s letter to the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:14-22) refers to the city’s textile industry (“white garments,” v. 18), its tepid water supply (vv. 15-16), and its eye salve (v. 18), which was known as “Phrygian powder.” Apparently the Laodiceans took John’s warning to heart: the church continued to prosper and became the home of famous bishops (e.g., Sagaris), debates (the proper date of Easter), and church councils (listing the NT canon, 367).

Bibliography. E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (London, 1965); C. J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting (1986, repr. Grand Rapids, 2000); J. McRay, Archaeology and the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1991).

Gary M. Burge

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAODICEA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)